Leadership behaviour L7
Co-create What Matters
People commit to what they help to build. Involve colleagues and pupils in shaping decisions early, and ownership, energy and quality follow.
Jump to L7 resources ↓What this behaviour looks like
Shared endeavour, clear boundaries
A leader invites colleagues at every level, and pupils where it fits, to shape a decision early, after making clear the objectives and what is open to influence. Ideas are tested in phases, and people can see what changed because of them.
A practical example
Planning next term's professional development
Consulting afterwards“Here is next term's CPD programme. Let me know if you have any comments.”
Designing it together“We have six CPD sessions and a fixed budget. Bring one classroom need to Wednesday's meeting. Together we will choose a focus against agreed criteria, test one approach for two weeks and use the findings to shape the programme.”
Six sessions and the budget are fixed; the focus is open.
Everyone brings one classroom need to Wednesday's meeting.
Test one approach for two weeks; findings shape the programme.
Write a one-minute opening that names the purpose, what is fixed and what is open to influence, and plan how you will choose together and test the idea.
L7 · Resources for your setting
Put ‘Co-create What Matters’ into practice
Develop your own practice or lead the learning with your team. Use the chapter and workbook to explore the behaviour, then choose the resources that fit your next step.
Apply · Your leadership practice
Put it to work
Use the L7 Playbook to turn the behaviour into practical action on a real leadership challenge.
- Practical toolkit and coaching prompts
- A practice script to rehearse your approach
- A 90-day plan to guide your next steps
Members only · Explore membership →
Apply · Learning with your team
Lead a team session
Use the L7 INSET PowerPoint to help colleagues explore the behaviour and plan how to put it into practice.
- Editable slides to adapt to your setting
- Speaker notes to support facilitation
- Discussion, rehearsal and planning
Members only · Explore membership →
Completed Playbooks
See L7 applied in eight leadership contexts
Choose your role to explore the challenge, the leader’s response and the intended result. Members can read the complete example and download an editable Word copy.
In a primary school
In a secondary school
Across schools
Selected completed example
In a primary school · Headteacher
Pupils redesigning break time
Anil · Headteacher · 390-pupil faith primary school
Worked example at a glance
Pupils redesigning break time
The challengeThirty-one per cent of pupils say they feel excluded at break, and pupils with sensory needs say it most clearly.
What the leader doesThe headteacher runs a pupil design workshop within clear safety and budget boundaries, includes children without asking them to disclose needs, pilots two ideas and is honest about what cannot be funded.
What success looks likeBy day 30 a representative pupil group should map belonging and barriers; by day 60 two pilots should run with safe staffing and clear criteria; by day 90 the final offer should improve belonging for previously excluded pupils.
Bilal · Assistant Headteacher · 390-pupil faith primary school
Worked example at a glance
Designing CPD with staff
The challengeOnly 42% of teachers say the last professional development cycle addressed a need they actually had in their classroom.
What the leader doesThe assistant headteacher runs a design session where staff bring classroom evidence, support staff speak first in each group and an anonymous board catches other views, then pilots one practice and one workload change.
What success looks likeBy day 30 all staff groups should contribute evidence-based needs; by day 60 one practice pilot and one workload action should be complete; by day 90 the final cycle should trace to need and staff should report greater relevance.
Arjun · Years 5 and 6 Phase Leader · 390-pupil faith primary school
Worked example at a glance
Rebuilding homework together
The challengeHomework completion in Years 5 and 6 sits at 64%, families raise it more than anything else, and tasks vary so widely in purpose that most are hard to defend.
What the leader doesThe phase leader brings pupils, families and teachers together to rebuild homework within a fixed forty-minute weekly ceiling, starting pupils with private reflection, then pilots the approach for two weeks.
What success looks likeBy day 30 representative input and fixed criteria should be complete; by day 60 a two-week pilot should reach at least 80% completion; by day 90 the model should improve learning without an unfair burden on families.
Raj · Headteacher · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,050 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Agreeing an approach to mobile phones
The challengePhone confiscations are up 38%, and staff, pupils and families each think the current policy is unfair for entirely different reasons.
What the leader doesThe headteacher runs a community forum with mixed tables and a confidential written route, is clear it is not a vote, pilots an approach in two year groups and lets governors decide against published criteria.
What success looks likeBy day 30 all community groups should contribute to shared cases; by day 60 two year groups should complete a four-week pilot; by day 90 governors should decide from published criteria and evidence.
Malcolm · Assistant Headteacher · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,050 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Shaping the next teaching framework
The challengeThe first phase of the teaching framework improved routines but left teachers saying they had no say in how it worked in their subject.
What the leader doesThe assistant headteacher separates core principles from how each subject enacts them, and asks cross-subject design groups to test adaptations with real materials in three disciplines.
What success looks likeBy day 30 representative design groups should identify valid adaptations; by day 60 three disciplines should complete two-week pilots; by day 90 the final framework language should visibly reflect tested professional input.
George · Head of Year 8 · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,050 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Redesigning Year 8 recognition
The challengeThe same eighteen pupils collect most Year 8 awards, quieter contributions go unseen, and the head of year designed the current system.
What the leader doesThe head of year asks pupils and tutors to redesign recognition together, requires an evidence sentence for every nomination and audits by group so it does not become a popularity contest.
What success looks likeBy day 30 pupils and tutors should define observable, overlooked contribution; by day 60 three recognition routes should complete a two-week pilot; by day 90 recognition should reach at least forty pupils fairly.
Finn · Head of Music · ages 11 to 16 secondary school, 1,050 pupils
Worked example at a glance
Pupils reshaping Key Stage 3 music
The challengeMusic take-up collapses after Year 8, and pupils describe a curriculum with very little cultural or creative room in it.
What the leader doesThe head of music runs a Year 8 design workshop that includes pupils who have drifted away, anchors ideas in musical actions rather than favourite artists and pilots two richer sequences.
What success looks likeBy day 30 less-engaged pupils should contribute musical intentions and barriers; by day 60 two classes should complete the pilot; by day 90 two revised units should improve take-up intention and curriculum representation.
Sunil · Trust Director of Standards · eleven-school trust
Worked example at a glance
Co-creating principles for AI
The challengeSchools are already building their own approaches to AI and staff confidence ranges from 21% to 74%, so principles written by the centre alone would fit neither end.
What the leader doesThe director publishes the fixed safeguards before anyone speaks, gathers needs and risks from every school, tests principles through three bounded pilots and shows how evidence and dissent shaped the final version.
What success looks likeBy day 30 all schools should contribute needs, risks and conditions; by day 60 three bounded pilots should test the agreed principles; by day 90 the approved principles should trace visibly to evidence and dissent.
The complete Playbook is for members
Turn this example into action
Read the full toolkit, coaching and practice scripts, and 90-day plan. Members can view the PDF here and download an editable Word copy.
Further reading
Recommended book
The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowiecki (2004)
This book deepens the behaviour by showing how collective intelligence leads to better decisions and greater buy-in.
References from the Everyone Succeeds book
- Deci, E.L. and Ryan, R.M. (2000) 'The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior', Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), pp. 227–268. Read free ↗
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